Real Music Corporate LogoVisionary new age music for nourishing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit

Real Music Corporate LogoVisionary new age music for nourishing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit

AquaEssence: An Ocean of Calm

AquaEssence: An Ocean of Calm by Amberfern

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An Ocean of Calm - Amberfern

AquaEssence: An Ocean of Calm
https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Amberfern_Aquaessence_An_Ocean_of_Calm...

Listening to the music of Amberfern is like traveling the world visiting secret gardens and enchanting forests.”  —Bette Timm about Amberfern’s Quiescence: A World At Peace

The gentle and mesmerising feeling of the sea drifts through this peaceful tapestry of smooth, liquid soundscapes. Close your eyes and sail with the music across wide, sunlit oceans to warm sandy shores, quiet harbors and even deep underwater to visit beautiful coral reefs.

With this, the second in his Elements series, Amberfern focuses on the ocean, musically capturing the fluidity of the seas that embrace our beautiful blue planet.


Watch the video for “Underwater” from this album.

Music for:
Spa & Massage
Stress Relief
Instrumentation:
acoustic guitar
electric and acoustic guitars
piano
congas
hand percussion
Celtic harp
synthesisers
ocean waves

Tracks

1. Avon Beach 5:26
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
2. Rhythm of the Sea 4:52
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
3. Underwater World 5:27
3
Average: 3 (2 votes)
4. Sirens 5:09
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
5. Floating 5:12
4
Average: 4 (1 vote)
6. Spindrift 4:04
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
7. Across the Blue Bay 5:00
3
Average: 3 (2 votes)
8. Driftwood 4:57
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
9. Ocean Sunrise 5:18
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
10. Faraway Shore 4:00
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
11. Coral Reef 5:02
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)
12. Calm Waters Home 6:24
5
Average: 5 (1 vote)

More Music By This Artist

Quiescence: A World at Peace by Amberfern

Press Acclaim

James McQuiston
NeuFutur Magazine

Dr. Clive Brooks is Amberfern, and AquaEssence is a collection of tracks that he has created to elicit the sounds and experiences that one has when they are on a beach. From “Avon Beach” to the disc’s final track, “Calm Waters Home,” Amberfern has deftly created a release that will elicit memories of days spent on the boardwalk, playing around a swimming hole, or bobbing around in the ocean. At a hair over an hour, AquaEssence contains considerable variation under the aegis of a unitary theme. “Rhythm of the Sea” maintains a cautious tempo whole providing those experiencing the track with a rich set of sounds.

“Avon Beach” provides listeners with a rough sketch of the styles and approaches that Amberfern will be taking over the course of AquaEssence. The track starts off slowly and adds other elements to the mix. There are distinct and clear movements to this composition, but the beauty of this track is that Amberfern is able to use each precedent part as a foundation for what is to follow. This is done in each track and as the whole of AquaEssence, ensuring that the disc is much stronger of an effort as a result.
 
“Across the Blue Bay” is a late-album track that maintains the same high commitment to quality as efforts like “Underwater World” or “Sirens;” the quicker approach of this track provides listeners with the energy that they need to listen to the last few tracks on AquaEssence.

Kathy Parsons
MainlyPiano.com

AquaEssence: An Ocean of Calm is Amberfern’s third release on the Real Music label, following Quiescence: A World At Peace (2011) and Mediterranean (2012). Recorded and mixed along the southwest coastline of England, Amberfern (Dr. Clive Brooks) performs on Shakuhachi flute, acoustic and electric guitars, grand piano, electric piano, congas, hand percussion, Celtic harp, bass guitars, synthesizers, and the sounds of ocean waves. Dedicated to his daughter and her new husband, this album is just over an hour of peaceful, calming music. Not quite ambient and not strongly melodic either, this refreshing album offers a soothing respite from the cares and worries of everyday life. There are twelve individual tracks, but the pieces flow from one to the next with no abrupt changes in mood or style, making it suitable for spas, massage, meditation, and other relaxation techniques (like a quiet evening with a nice glass of wine!).
 
AquaEssence: An Ocean of Calm begins with “Avon Beach,” a blissful piece that sets the soothing tone of the album with guitars, keyboards, atmospheric washes, and the sound of the ocean: slow, graceful, and breathtakingly beautiful! “Rhythm of the Sea” continues the leisurely ebb and flow with guitars, piano, hand drums, and synth washes.  “Underwater World” is darkly mysterious, but not dangerous or threatening. The Shakuhachi flute effectively offers its exotic breathy-ness to guitar, keyboards, and atmospheric sounds. Hypnotic female voices work their magic in the slowly seductive “Sirens.” The rhythm and gentle melody give “Spindrift” a slightly Native American flavor while remaining gentle and effortless. I really like the somewhat more upbeat (but still very peaceful) “Across the Blue Bay.” The easy rhythm and piano blend with the guitar to create a vision of warm tropical breezes and peacefully undulating water. The calls of shorebirds open the magical “Ocean Sunrise,” another favorite that suggests feelings of renewal and the anticipation of a fresh start as well as the beauty of an ocean sunrise. I also really like “Coral Reef” with its hand percussion, keyboards, guitar, and atmospheric sounds. It begins mysteriously and gradually lightens to a more tranquil feeling but never quite loses its darker edge.  “Calm Waters Home” features more piano than the other tracks, bringing us back to reality, refreshed and relaxed.
 
Amberfern has created another beautiful hour of soulful and soothing music. Recommended!

Michael Foster
ambientvisions.com

Amberfern, aka Dr. Clive Brooks, has released a peaceful, meditative album with AquaEssence that coalesces around the concept of water and the ocean as a source of tranquility and as a catalyst for our imagination.
 
Amberfern has interspersed the sound of the ocean throughout his compositions in a way so as to enhance the compositions and give the listener a secondary object to latch onto, as his music acts as the sail on the boat of our inner minds allowing us to drift on an ocean of peace. The sound of the ocean is never overpowering to the music itself which is something that I am always grateful for as a listener to many albums that feature nature sounds. The sounds can be used to gently illustrate the point that an artist is trying to make or it can be very distracting from the music if not mixed properly into the song.  Amberfern has achieved a good balance with his use of water on AquaEssence and it offers the listener a reminder of the purpose behind the compositions.
 
The electric guitar is the primary instrument that Amberfern uses to express his ideas on this album but the sounds are gentle and they simply drift across the canvas of this release quietly illustrating the fluid nature of his music. Amberfern is a flexible musician so the guitar is not the sole illustrative tool that he uses in his compositions. He uses the piano to great effect on many of the tracks as well as the flute, the acoustic guitar, congas, hand percussion and some synthesizers as well. Whatever he chooses to use though has been carefully considered in relation to his music and then combined in a masterful way to maintain the flowing feel of water that moves skillfully through all of his compositions. It is apparent that Amberfern has spent some time with these compositions during the production of AquaEssence and has drawn from his compositions the "spirit" of the ocean which allows the listener to immerse themselves, so to speak, in the water of these songs.
 
One of my favorite songs on the album is “Ocean Sunrise” which spotlights several of the instruments that Amberfern has brought to bear on the element of water. The flute, the acoustic guitar, the piano and a quiet beat that acts as an anchor to the composition and allows each instrument to step up and be heard and yet be an integral part of the whole. With the waves and the seagulls in this song it is the perfect combination of elements that make this album able to create the lush soundscapes of the ocean right there on your speakers, or better yet, on your headphones which will allow you to pick out all of the nuances that fill Amberfern's music.
 
The ocean is still a mysterious place whose depths have barely been explored, but it is life to all of us who call earth home and a home to the creatures who swim there beneath the waves. The ocean is both a known and an unknown, it is peaceful and calming, but can also represent adventure to some as they set sail for new lands. Amberfern’s music is mostly the peaceful and calming aspects of this, but he also has hints of the adventure that awaits those who view water in a different way. However you see the ocean that Amberfern has painted on this release, you will find something here that will allow you to be reflective about something that covers so much of our planet and is absolutely necessary for all of us to exist.  So sit back, relax and allow the music of AquaEssence to massage your mind and carry you away to the depths of the ocean where your daily concerns will melt away for an hour or so.

Chris Spector
Midwest Record

A new age record that sounds like a [Ennio] Morricone soundtrack? Strange but true. If you can imagine Morricone at his most peaceful, impressionistic best, you get what Amberfern’s tribute to the ocean is all about. How’s that for a work around? The multi-instrumentalist delivers the goods here with a set that you would want to slip your massage therapist as a gift when her music shelf needs some updating. This is a wonderfully engaging set that has a tranquility about it that probably wouldn’t come across loud enough in your car if you need a tune up but would make a great peace keeper any place else. Meditative stuff that’s more than girlfriend music. Well done!